On Thin Ice: First to Fall Loses

Chapter 7

POV’s Tate

I closed my eyes for a moment, forcing my jaw to unclench. “Yes, of course. I’ll see you then.”

“I’ll send the car for you at 6 o’clock sharp.” He didn’t need to add the final words: don’t be late.

“Thank you, grandfather,” I said quietly.

He didn’t even say goodbye before the line went dead.

“Rise and shine.”

Before I could even register the sound of that exceedingly bright, cheery, and awake voice, light suddenly flashed from outside my closed eyes.

Groaning, I rubbed a hand over my face before I opened my eyes, finding my shades thrown open, and the rising sun shining its bright ass light into my face. Bathed in the aggressive light, in the middle of my room, was Riley.

I shoved off my cream colored comforter, looking around my room. After my phone call with my grandfather last night, I stress-cleaned my entire room. The wooden desk beside one of the windows had my textbooks neatly stacked on top, my laptop at the center, and all my pens and pencils put away in the drawers. My closet door was closed, but I remembered having refolded all of my clothes before running my laundry. I had even vacuumed the fuzzy, ivory carpet on the floor, since Riley and Lena had stayed up watching a new TV show. I think Riley switched it to a nature documentary, probably about the blobfish.

The sunlight reflected off the various picture frames on my dresser, displaying some of my fondest memories with my friends and family. Most of them featured Lena and Riley, a few with Eren and his friends, and some with my family.

“Time to get up, we have some serious shopping to do.” I heard Lena shout from the living room. She was right. Riley always complained about not having cute going-out tops, but whenever we took her shopping, she always ended up buying more of her silly graphic tees and meme shirts. She usually just borrowed stuff from Lena or me, but she’d already run through that rotation three times. Riley, despite having the most demanding major out of the three of us, somehow managed to go out ten times more often. It was honestly impressive.

Slowly, I dragged myself out of my soft bed, straightening my sheets and neatly arranging my array of cream and light blue pillows. I quickly hopped in the shower, washing my hair and letting it air dry as I put on a pair of loose, low-rise jeans, a cropped, navy T-shirt, and a pair of matching high-top sneakers. I glanced in the mirror, dotting some concealer to cover my eye bags and lightly patting some blush onto my cheeks. I’d always had fairly dark and thick lashes, so I didn’t feel the need to put on mascara, especially since I’d have to redo my makeup later anyway for the party. I’d have to redo my hair later as well, since it was drying into a wavy mess at the moment.

I spritzed on some perfume and grabbed my purse before walking out and into the kitchen. Lena was already making three cups of coffee, pouring it into disposable cups so we could bring it with us. Riley was making some scrambled eggs on the stove.

“Want some?” Riley asked, noticing my gaze.

It looked absolutely mouth-watering, but we’d probably be buying a bunch of snacks at the mall. “Nah, I’m not really hungry right now,” I said, grabbing my coffee and pouring some almond milk in it. “Thanks, Lena.”

Lena smiled, sipping from her own cup as Riley put the eggs into two plates, standing while she picked at her breakfast.

Once they were both done, we all took our coffees and headed to the parking garage, hopping into my car. The drive to Maria Mall was about fifteen minutes, and by the time we got there, Riley was bursting at the seams.

“Ok, our expedition has officially commenced.” She declared, jumping out of the car.

Lena and I practically chased after her and into the mall. Riley could barely look through a*****e for five minutes before she was chasing after some weirdly patterned knit sweater, or a shirt that said “call me daddy” with a daddy long-legs stick figure drawn on it. Lena practically had to drag her away from a pair of sweatpants that had “stop looking at my d**k” written across the front of them. To be fair, Tate chuckled a little bit when she read it.

After spending nearly an hour searching through racks of clothes, some tops being “too boring,” others being “not Riley’s style,” something finally caught Tate’s eye.

“What about this?” She asked, lifting the Rileyr.

Riley’s eyes widened as she rushed over, snatching the top from her hands.

The shirt was certainly unique, the perfect mix of sexy and cool, just like Riley. Riley practically ran into the dressing room, and when she came out, Tate knew that their mission was complete. The front of the shirt was a set of wings, where they started along the center of Riley’s torso, and the “feathers” made of fabric branched out, covering her chest but leaving bits and pieces of skin showing. The entire back was a web of strings that took both Lena and Tate’s entire focus to tie correctly, but once finished, it looked absolutely stunning.

“I knew there was a reason I became friends with you,” Riley murmured, staring at herself for longer than I had ever seen.

“Because I’m gorgeous and hilarious?” I asked.

“Yeah, and because you seriously find the best clothes. You need to teach me your ways,” Riley begged.

I shrugged, “It’s a natural-born gift. There’s no teaching it.”

Riley rolled her eyes, admiring herself once more. “Ok, now get me out of this thing so I can buy it.”

After what felt like forever, Lena and I managed to untangle the web of ties, freeing Riley from what she decided was “the fashionable find of the season.”

After checking out at the register, Lena pointed outside of the shop towards one of the kiosks. “Want to grab some boba before we head back for class?”

“Obviously,” Riley answered, swinging her shopping bag in one hand as she skipped out of the store. I chuckled as I followed behind.